CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO
Stella
My heart races and everything around me fades to nothing as blood races past my ears, but my eyes never leave Seb as his words repeat over and over in my head.
He wants me?
Like, for real, wants me?
Or was he just saying it because I had him at fucking gunpoint?
I shake my head, at war with myself.
I know the answer. I saw it clear as day in his dark eyes as he said the words.
Unlike all the other times, I saw the raw honesty, heard the sincerity of his apology.
“You’re fucking crazy.” Calli’s words finally break through my haze, but I don’t get a chance to respond, or even to turn to look at her, because Seb moves and before I know what’s happening, my feet leave the ground and I’m thrown over his shoulder.
“What the—”
“You fucking shot at me, baby?”
“Are you dead?”
His hand smacks across my ass, making me howl as my clenched fists rain hell down on his own ass.
One second we’re moving, marching through the trees toward the Cirillo house, then the next he’s lowering me to my feet again.
“Thank you,” I sass. “Was that really—”
His hands cup my face as his lips crash to mine in an all-consuming kiss that leaves my knees weak and my pussy aching for more.
“Does that hurt your stomach?” he whispers against my lips.
“Does what hurt my—oh,” I breathe when I figure out what he’s talking about. “N-no, I’m fine. It hardly—whoa, Seb,” I scream when he throws me back over his shoulder and continues forward once more. “Put me the fuck down,” I cry, looking up just in time to find all the others watching us with amused expressions before we disappear through the trees.
Seb ignores all my pleas to put me back on my feet until we’re inside some kind of building. The only thing I know is that it’s not the main house, because I saw that briefly before he kicked a door closed behind us.
He jogs up a set of stairs as if he’s carrying nothing more than a stuffed toy over his shoulder.
We pass through a living area before another door slams behind me and I’m finally put down against it.
“Thank fuck, my head is—” My back crashes against the door and his body quickly follows, crushing me in the middle as his lips find mine once more.
My lips part on instinct the second he licks across the bottom one. His tongue caresses mine, exploring my mouth as if it’s our first kiss.
For two seconds, my head wins out and I pause as he encourages me to give in to him.
“Stella,” he growls, his fingers flexing as he grips the side of my neck in a possessive hold.
“I-I—”
“I meant what I said, baby. I want you. I want this.”
My heart pounds, threatening to crash right out of my chest.
“What did Theo want you to tell me?” I ask, finding some strength to ask and not just dive headfirst into everything he can offer me.